(Photo by Robert Hradil/Getty Images)
Egypt international Mohamed Salah surprised European champions Portugal with a wonderful goal, but Cristiano Ronaldo’s late double denied Egypt victory.
Egypt managed to deliver a convincing performance against the 2016 European champions at Letzigrund Stadium in Zürich, which saw the Pharaohs dominating and controlling the tempo of the game, but Ronaldo managed to make the difference in the dying minutes to earn his side a 2-1 victory.
Egypt’s XI: Mohamed El-Shennawy; Ahmed Fathi, Ali Gabr, Ahmed Hegazi, Mohamed Abdelshafy; Tarek Hamed, Mohamed Elneny; Mohamed Salah, Abdallah El-Said, Mahmoud Trezeguet; Ahmed Hassan Koka.
Portugal’s XI: Beto, Cédric Soares, Bruno Alves, Rolando, R. Guerreiro, Rúben Neves, João Mario, João Moutinho, Bernardo Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo, André Silva
The game started quite well for Egypt, as they knew how to control the match and limit Portugal’s attacking threat.
The Euro champions tried to put some pressure on West Brom defensive duo Ahmed Hegazi and Ali Gabr, but the Egyptian defenders managed to destroy any build ups done by the Portuguese side.
Around the half-hour mark, Cristiano Ronaldo’s shot was denied by Abdallah El-Said who helped Mohamed El-Shennawy keep a clean sheet in the first half.
In the second half, Egypt started to move forward and put pressure on Portugal’s defense in an attempt to threaten the Portuguese side and open the scoring.
(Photo by Robert Hradil/Getty Images)
The pressure paid off as Egypt managed to break the deadlock in the 56th minute through Liverpool star Mohamed Salah. The 25-year-old opened the scoring following a fine assist from El-Said as the latter pulled the ball back at the edge of the box for Salah to slot it home calmly.
STAT: @22mosalah has now scored 33 international goals in 57 appearances. He equals @AhmedHassan as the 4th joint top scorer in @Pharaohs history. pic.twitter.com/kv1dCrhnKM
— KingFut.com (@King_Fut) March 23, 2018
Following the goal, Egypt started to close the gaps and tried to keep their solid defensive performance. Egypt manager Hector Cuper made a number of changes as Amr Warda came on to replace El-Said in the 66th minute, while goal scorer Salah made way for Mahmoud Abdel-Razik Shikabala 10 minutes later.
Just one minute from time, Egypt keeper El-Shennawy pulled a fine save to deny Andre Gomes before getting his hands to a cross from Gelson Martins.
As the Pharaohs seemed to be headed for a victory, Ronaldo levelled the scoreline in the first minute of injury time. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner then headed a second goal to make it 2-1 for Portugal.
Following their 2-1 defeat to Portugal on Friday, the Pharaohs are scheduled to face Greece on Tuesday in part of their preparations for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
.@22mosalah’s goal against @selecaoportugal. pic.twitter.com/90jLVGeruj
— KingFut.com (@King_Fut) March 23, 2018
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